"*Sigh* Why has all of this nonsense come up… especially since it includes that damn Julius!!"
The Emperor, Bernard Trika, scoffed as he heard the report being read out by one of his attendants.
His sparkling blonde hair seemed to have lost its light like a sun was being drain of his energy.
Anyone who saw him would think that he was stricken with some disease, but rather it was stress from the actions of the nobles and Church coming to light.
Ignorant commoners are now demanding answers and justice to stop those that say their mission is peace and order while they are the ones to create the disorder and anger among the people.
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"Why have you not left yet, Will?" the Emperor questioned the kneeling Knight who hadn't moved from his position since arriving within the throne room for over an hour now.
Like the Emperor, the Knight seemed to be roughly the same age, easily around the late 30's, early 40's mark.
But unlike the Emperor, the Knight was weighed down by the armour on his shoulders and strapped to various parts of his body.
Looking down from his seat, the Emperors eyes were drawn to the Knights deep blue coloured hair.
"*Sigh* Do you really want to fight against me on this, Will?"
"Your Majesty…
Do you really want to continue ignoring what you did to Julius…?"
Will looked up at the Emperor while still kneeling, keeping his anger withheld from attacking the man seated on the throne.
Fighting side by side with Julius for more years than one should, a whole legion of Imperial Royal Knights were disgusted and felt robbed of their dignity when Julius lost his status and was exiled from the capital to the far reaches of the Empire.
That day forward the entire legion in Wills control refused to listen to any orders and wanted to be freed from their allegiance on the grounds it had been violated the second the Empire failed to back Julius.
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"All of you… will continue with this nonsense, won't you…?
*Sigh* Leave… take them all with you as well…
Don't ever come back…"
"Gladly…" Will didn't say anything else and got up to leave.
He was done kneeling and wanted to get away at this point, already disgusted he was breathing the same air as the Emperor but as he was just about to step out of the throne room, he heard…
"Your Majesty!!
Count Byrde, Viscounts Baxter, Henderson, Riley and the two Barons Howard and Wright have surrendered themselves and their territory under their control to the Sicarius Clan!"
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A day earlier Swinford, a town in control of the Viscount Baxter, was having a normal day with its citizens going about their tasks without any issues.
One of the towns people, Tan, a young farmer had headed out into the field for his work.
Parts of the problem he faced today was cleaning up the mess made by some Mages and Paladins who treated their town like trash.
All sorts of places were destroyed and damaged without any care, leaving the towns people cleaning and fixing for days on end without any support from their Lord.
Tan was complaining in his heart while taking the long walk out to the crops that's been burnt by one of the Mages.
It was supposed to be a task that required several people to help but since the damage in the town could affect the current stored food, he was left alone to manage the crops.
Weirdly, as he came past the last hill before the burnt crops, Tan saw a large group of people marching towards the town.
From what he could see, they were wearing quite the luxurious armour since it was quite different compared to the Paladins that came past a few days earlier.
The colour schematic of black, white, and gold really drew in Tans eyes as did the gold visors which glistened under the sunlight.
Tan was ready to turn and leave for the town as quickly as possible, worried the towns people might get attacked but he was stopped just as he turned around.
"Kid… come with us." The muffled voice that came out of the enclosed helmet.
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Over the course of a few hours, all the regions of the nobles nearby Vileta were seized.
Originally, Esmond thought about sending the First-Generation Clones to attack but scared about the effect it could leave on them without proper preparation, so the droids were used.
Deciding to use the droids he'd created with Tulluan that were designed with the PD-01s as a template, with their main frame of work relating to the world of Stovi.
The reason they were created for Stovi was the future part they would play as being the droid force that would guard the imperial palace and cities.
While they would be primarily wielded with swords, spears, and the sort, they would have the knowledge and training to use energy directed weaponry.
Tulluan believed during the creation and design of the M-PD-01s that it would be necessary that they have a replacement and upgrade philosophy built into them.
Reasoning being was the continual updates that would require a new round of droids, wasting time and effort.
Noticing it would be far easier to create the droid from the beginning to allow for the switching of parts when upgrades became available.
So far, the M-PD-01s had gone through one round of upgrades already with Echo replacing their alloy make up with the new Primordium metal that'd been created by him.
They also had a new circuit built in which was printed onto the Primordium which connected with magic stones imbedded into the frame of the droids.
The tests had shown that the droids could use spells up to level 3.
Because none of the droids had a Mana Core, the Magic Stones would be depleted and unable to recharged, even absorbing Mana from the surrounding atmosphere would be difficult.
Some of the scientists were focusing on somehow creating an artificial Core but so far, they'd come up with nothing, which left only one option and that was supplying the droids with a decent sum of Stones that could be swapped out.
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The droids quickly rushed the towns and villages that were in control of the noble lords in proximity to Vileta.
Capturing the Guards and Knights of the various Lords, the droids made quick work of the opposition who had no idea they would be so easily swept through.
One of the guards protecting Swinford only realised something was happening once he decided to take a little wander around.
That's when he noticed the droids flying through the air using Wind Mana to help guide them over the walls that protected the town.
Before he could say a word to anyone, he was hit with a Wind Bullet (Level 1 Spell) and fell unconsciousness to the swift actions of the droids.
By the time he awoke, he was in cell that seemed reminiscent of modern jails with greater space and comfort, but to the Guard is seemed like heaven.
There was even a shower and toilet which had image instructions to help him understand what to do.
Outside of the jailhouse, the citizens continued to rub their eyes and pinch themselves as they watched in disbelief as the drone swarms rebuilt the towns and regions in front of their eyes.
At the same time, the nobles and their families were all brought over to Vileta for Esmond to deal with.
While it would be no issue for him to run the entire area without the nobles, they would be the perfect puppets for him to use once the game changed from warfare to political trickery.
It was that same trickery Esmond used to have them surrender to his Sicarius Clan instead of an aristocratic government body.
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Just when the Emperor was informed of the half a dozen Lords who had surrendered to the Sicarius Clan, Esmond was dealing with Carter and Isabelle while trying to sort out the development of the vast region.
"How far have the deep scans come along and what's the construction status of the region?"
Esmond had his eyes on the 3D Holographic map that displayed the vast amount of land in his hands.
Well over 1000 km2 of land within their control, Esmond thought he might have jumped the gun and decided to take too much before he could counter anything, but he soon learnt Carter and Isabelle were more than prepared.
"Its complete," Carter displayed a real time image of the towns from the satellites that showed a timelapse of the towns former state to current.
"We've set up temporary housing using the Capsule Pills to quickly erect the necessary buildings, including that off the administrative and governmental to help record the details of all inhabitants.
Only real problem I've had so is convincing the Knights and Guards of each noble house.
For some reason, they feel they won't receive the same training and care their Lords offered them… even though their cells offer them more than their actually homes." Carter reported to Esmond while utterly amazed at the way the guards and knights had acted as of late.
Since it became clear to them that they would eventually leave the cells that quickly became home, the Knights and Guards all decided to do their best to remain within their cells.
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"Isabelle, how is the rest of the region and borders going?"
"Within a few days the towns should be completely rebuilt and finished, including the expanded areas we've worked on since that's what we've been constructing on first.
The region of Count Byrde has been the most interesting though…
Through all of the mountainous regions before the small region in between where the Counts home and vassal live, the Counts fiefdom acts as a natural barrier."
Isabelle zoomed in on the Holographic map and showcased the several mountains that covered a region of 20 or more kilometres where only a small valley led through the area towards Count Byrdes land.
The plan was to create a huge wall similar to the Great Wall of China that cross high above the land below.
Down below, before the entrance of the valley, Isabelle wanted to create a Landport which would record the information of the visitors to the region before putting them into the modern carriages with suspension, air conditioning and an assortment of other goods.
"The roads are being reenforced with some stops created along the way that offer them all some refuge." Isabelle heard early on from her friend Angela that there wasn't anything to enjoy along the deary path which seemed dangerous through the mountains.
Wanting to offer something more to the travellers, Isabelle had created hotels along the mountainous path which overlooked the alps from above.
Built to modern standards, the hotels had hotsprings, skiing and other facilities available for the travellers to enjoy, with more options being added overtime.
Esmond found it to be a great idea and worth going ahead with it since the sum of gold they could earn from it was sure to be more than most could have ever thought a snowy and dreary area could bring them.